A Graffiti Love Letter to Brooklyn

At the corner of Livingston and Hoyt, artist Steve Powers found his canvas — a 5,000-square-foot concrete parking garage. “Really one of the ugliest pieces of architecture I’ve ever had the privilege of decorating,” Powers says. “It’s just built for vandalism.” Powers's art is inscribed (this time with the city's permission) on the multi-level structure with block letters intended to empower the community. “It’s just paint no big deal,” Powers says. “My paint can bring a community up, and there’s no way anyone else’s paint can push a community down.” In this short documentary, the folks from the New Yorkers series take us to the Brooklyn street corner where Powers and his self-described team of “professional hangout artists” are painting their message.

This documentary is part of an ongoing series called New Yorkers that records the many faces of the city. The filmmakers have explored individuals from a fellow graffiti artist named Guess to a Shaolin monk, and more.